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DECREE No

DECREE No.51-CP OF MAY 10, 1997 ON HOUSEHOLD REGISTRATION AND MANAGEMENT

THE GOVERNMENT

Pursuant to the Law on Organization of the Government of September 30, 1992;

In order to exercise a uniform household registration and management system, enhance social management, and protect the citizens� legitimate freedom of residence;

At the proposal of the Minister of the Interior,

DECREES:

Chapter I

GENERAL PROVISIONS

Article 1.- Household registration and management is a measure of administrative management of the State to determine the citizens� place of residence, ensure the exercise of their rights and obligations, enhance social management, and maintain political stability, social order and safety.

The Government assigns the Ministry of the Interior to look after household registration and management.

Article 2.- Every citizen of the Socialist Republic of Vietnam shall have the right and obligation to have his/her household residence registered and managed by the police as stipulated.

Every citizen must have his/her household registered at his/her place of residence called permanent household residence. When moving to a new place of residence, his/her must again have his/her household residence registered and managed as stipulated.

Article 3.- Persons who are carrying out a verdict of a court of law or a decision on compulsory residence and are subject to administrative control by the local administration are not allowed to move to a new place of residence for household residence registration and management.

Persons who are carrying out a verdict or a decision of a court of law or a decision of an authorized State agency on prohibition of residence are not allowed to have their household residence registered and managed in the area where they are prohibited to reside.

Article 4.- Persons who have family relationship and who live in the same house shall register in one family household.

Each household must be represented by a head. The head of a household shall take the main responsibility for complying with the stipulations on household registration and management of his/her household.

Article 5.- Personnel of State agencies and socio-economic organizations who are single and who live at a collective apartment building of their agency shall register as a collective household, and each of them must directly register his/her household with the police. Each apartment building must be represented by a head. The head of the building shall have to guide and follow the observance of the stipulations on household registration and management by the residents in the building.

Article 6.- Professional officers and armymen, non-coms, workers and personnel of the People�s Army and the People�s Police who live in barracks or collective apartment buildings of the army and the police shall have their household membership registered and managed according to separate regulations of the Ministry of Defense and the Ministry of the Interior.

Professional officers and armymen, workers and personnel of the People�s Army and the People�s Police who live with their family or live in their own lawful house shall be allowed to register their household membership with their family as stipulated by this Decree.

Citizens who are discharging their military service duty shall not register in their family household.

Citizens who are not serving in the army or police but who live in barracks or collective apartment buildings of the army and the police shall have their household membership registered and managed according to common stipulations.

Chapter II

HOUSEHOLD REGISTRATION AND MANAGEMENT

Article 7.- Citizens aged 15 and above must make an accurate and full household declaration according to the model form of the Ministry of the Interior.

Article 8.- The police shall keep an original household registration book of an administrative division or a collective apartment building for household registration and management.

In addition to the book kept at the police, each public agency or organization which registers a collective household membership must have a copy of its collective household registration book for monitoring and management. This book shall not be a substitute for the original household registration book kept at the police.

- Each family must have a household registration book.

- If many families live in the same house, each family shall have its own household registration book.

- Each person who registers his/her collective household membership shall be issued a collective household registration card.

The original household registration book, the families� household registration books and the collective household registration cards shall be issued by the police according to the model form of the Ministry of the Interior. They are documents of legal value and serve as the basis for determining the legal residence of citizens.

Article 9.- In the event of the following changes, the head of the family, the head of the collective apartment building, or the person affected by the change must go through the procedure of supplementary registration or amendment at the police where his/her permanent residence is registered:

- Household splitting, household merging, new household formation.

- Change of family name(s), first name(s) or middle name(s), birth date(s).

- A baby is born.

- A person dies or is missing.

- A person is called up.

- A person is permitted by the authorized State agency to go abroad for at least 12 months.

- A person is put in jail, is taken to a concentration center for education and medical treatment, or to a re-education center, a reformary camp.

Article 10.- When a person moves to a new place of residence, he/she or the head of the family, or the head of the collective apartment building where the person concerned is to move out must go to the police agency of the locality where he or she is residing to fill the procedure of relocation.

Within at most 7 days in a city or town, and at most 10 days in a rural area of arrival in his/her new place of residence, the new comer or the head of the newly coming family must fill the procedure of registering their permanent household residence with the police agency in the new locality.

Registration requires the following papers:

- The Identity Card (for persons aged 15 and above).

- The certificate of relocation.

- The certificate of the change of permanent residence.

- The certificate of a lawful dwelling house.

- Other papers directly related to the change of permanent residence (if any).

Within 10 days after receiving the necessary valid papers as stipulated for persons moving to a rural area, and within 20 days after receiving the necessary valid papers for persons moving into a city or town, the police must settle the case.

Article 11.- In order to have his/her permanent residence registered at the new place of residence, the new comer must have a lawful dwelling house. A lawful dwelling house is:

1. A house owned by oneself.

2. A house which one is entitled to use legally by a decision of house allotment or by a rental contract.

3. A house whose legitimate owner agrees to let the new comer live in. The house must ensure environmental hygiene and have the minimum living space as stipulated. It is neither being disputed nor in an area to be cleared under general planning.

The above-mentioned lawful dwelling house must have the necessary papers recognizing the ownership or the right of the user to use it legally as stipulated by law.

Article 12.- In addition to having a lawful dwelling house as stipulated in Article 11, persons who want to transfer their permanent residence to cities or towns (hereafter referred to as cities) must have the following conditions:

1. For persons transferred or assigned by the authorized State agency to work in an urban center:

a) Public servants and employees transferred by the authorized level within the branch or to another branch of the same profession to replace those who are transferred to another place, or who retire on a pension, retire for health reason, or quit the job, and those sent there to work.

b) Public servants and employees who have been sent by a State agency or an organization to study, to work or on a special assignment in another place, but who are now to return to the former place of residence to work by decision of the authorized State agency.

c) Graduates of universities, colleges, high schools and vocational schools who, by decision of the authorized State agency of ministerial level (for central State agencies or organizations) or the provincial People�s Committees (for provincial and municipal State agencies and organizations), have been working on regular jobs.

2. Professional officers and armymen, workers and personnel of the People�s Army and the People�s Police who regularly work in an urban center and belong to one of the following cases shall be permitted to register their permanent residence in their families� household:

a) Persons who come to live with their parents, spouse and children who are permanent residents in a city.

b) Policewomen and armywomen who are married or who have children.

c) Persons who have continually worked in an urban center for at least 3 years.

d) Pensioners.

3. In addition to the stipulations in Points 1 and 2, persons who belong to one of the following categories shall also be allowed to transfer their permanent residence to the place of residence of persons who have registered their permanent residence in a city:

a) Public servants and employees who work in neighboring provinces or cities and who daily live and have their meals together with their parents (if unmarried) or with their spouse and children who are permanent residents in a city.

b) Persons who have grown past the working age, who have retired for old age or health reason, and who want to come and live with their children or siblings (if they are unmarried and have no children) who are permanent residents in a city.

c) Persons who have lost their working capacity due to disability, mentally deficiency or disease and who want to come and live with their parents, children, or siblings, uncles, aunts, or a sponsor (if they have no parents, spouse or children) who are permanent residents in a city.

d) Persons under 18 years old who come to live with their grand-parents, siblings, uncles, aunts, a sponsor or a guardian (if their parents were dead) who are permanent residents in a city.

e) A man or a woman who wishes to come and live with his or her spouse who is a permanent resident in a city.

f) Overseas Vietnamese who are repatriated and are permitted by the authorized level to reside in a city.

g) Persons who were permanent residents or were born in a city, but who have been called up or have gone to another place (including a foreign country) to work as assigned, to study, or to work under a labor contract, and who now return legally, and their dependents as stipulated in Points b, c, d, and e, item 3, of this Article.

h) Persons who were permanent residents in a city, but who have served a prison term or have returned from a re-education center, a reformatory camp or a medical institution after carrying out a punitive decision for administrative violation, and who do not belong to the categories banned from cities.

4. With regard to special cases, the Director of the Municipal Police Service shall report to the President of the Municipal People�s Committee and the Minister of the Interior for decision.

Article 13.- The Ministry of the Interior must direct the police agencies at all levels to keep a regular list of different categories of residents and households in each locality; to timely record any changes in this list of residents and households, and take measures to closely manage each category of residents and households; to popularize the provisions on household registration and management; to enforce observance of these stipulations and handle any violations in this field in accordance with the provisions of law.

Chapter III

REGISTRATION AND MANAGEMENT OF TEMPORARY STAY AND TEMPORARY ABSENCE

Article 14.- Persons aged 15 and above who stay overnight away from their permanent place of residence in another ward, town or commune must register their temporary stay there as stipulated. If parents, husbands and wives, and their children are regular guests in one another�s house, they must register their first temporary stay in the year.

Article 15.- The following categories of persons must register their period of temporary stay as stipulated:

1. Persons who are de facto residing in a locality but who have not yet fully met the conditions for registering their permanent residence.

2. Persons who come from another place to study, work or serve as casual laborers.

3. Persons who have been assigned to work in the State agencies or organizations, enterprises of different economic sectors, foreign representative offices or branch offices in provinces or cities of Vietnam.

Article 16.- Persons aged 15 and above who for personal reasons must be absent overnight from the precinct, city, town or district where they are residing permanently must register their temporary absence as stipulated.

Persons who have been absent from their permanent place of residence for more than 6 months without registering their temporary absence and without plausible reasons shall have their names crossed out from the household registration book. When they return, they must re-apply for registration of their permanent residence as stipulated.

With regard to those persons who have registered their permanent residence but who in fact do not live in their permanent residence address without any plausible reasons, or cannot live there, the household management agency must cross out their names in the household registration book.

The Ministry of the Interior shall give a detailed guidance on the procedure of registering temporary stay and temporary absence.

Chapter IV

SETTLEMENT OF COMPLAINTS, DENUNCIATIONS, AND HANDLING OF VIOLATIONS

Article 17.- The local agencies and organizations should not alter or act counter to the stipulations on household registration and management provided for in this Decree. In case of contravention, the Ministry of the Interior can suspend or petition the Prime Minister to issue a decision to cancel it.

Article 18.- All citizens are obliged to comply with household registration and management as stipulated by this Decree and have the right to protest against or denounce any person or organization that fails to comply with these stipulations, or that refuses, deliberately delays, causes difficulty or trouble in household registration and management.

The State agency which receives complaints and denunciations shall have to consider and settle them in accordance with the Ordinance on Citizens� Complaints and Denunciations.

Article 19.- Any act of tampering with papers, documents and declarations in household registration, or misusing household registration and management to carry out illegal activities shall be subject to administrative sanctions or examined for penal liability depending on the seriousness of the violation.

Persons assigned to look after settling household registration and management violate the stipulations of this Decree or misuse this work to take bribes or cause trouble to citizens shall be subject to administrative discipline or examined for penal liability, depending on the character and seriousness of the violation.

Chapter V

IMPLEMENTATION PROVISIONS

Article 20.- This Decree shall replace Decree No.04-HDBT of January 7, 1988 of the Council of Ministers (now the Government) promulgating the Regulations on Household Registration and Management and is effective as from July 15,1997. All stipulations made earlier which are contrary to this Decree are now annulled.

The Ministry of the Interior, the Ministry of Justice, the Ministry of Labor, War Invalids and Social Affairs, the National Population and Family Planning Committee, and the General Department of Statistics shall have to combine the work of household registration and that of household management, labor registration, population census and family planning, and ensure the conformity of reality with the statistics reported in order to meet the State�s requirements for social management and serving the people.

The Ministry of the Interior shall have to cooperate with the other Ministries and branches concerned to apply advanced technologies and reform the administrative procedures in household registration and management.

The Presidents of the People�s Committees of the provinces and cities directly under the Central Government shall have to direct the implementation of the work of household registration and management in their locality.

The Ministry of the Interior shall have to guide, follow, direct, check and urge a unanimous implementation of this Decree nation-wide.

Article 21.- The Ministers, the Heads of ministerial-level agencies, the Heads of the agencies attached to the Government, and the Presidents of the People�s Committees of the provinces and cities under the Central Government shall have to implement this Decree.

On behalf of the Government,

The Prime Minister,

VO VAN KIET